NEW DELHI: In the upcoming elections in 2019, the Aam Aadmi Party at the ground level is working towards strengthening the religious minority vote bank. Delhi has nearly 15 percent minority votes which include mostly Muslims and Sikhs. In the last civic body election, the AAP reportedly witnessed a shift in the minority vote bank. Keeping in mind the result at the ground, the AAP is trying to reach out to the minorities.
Delhi's Muslims, 12 percent of the city's population, have traditionally voted for the Congress. In fact, their support in 2013 had proved the party's only consolation in the face of a drubbing –four of its 8 MLAs were Muslims from Muslim-dominated seats. According to a report, it can now be said that the Congress was able to hold on to its Muslim support in 2013 not due to any great affection for the community, but because Muslims were unsure whether the AAP was in a position to defeat the BJP. Once they saw the winning capability of the AAP, they shifted in considerable numbers in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. However, the shift was hesitant as 56 percent of Muslims voted for the AAP and 39 percent for the Congress.
The level of Muslim support received by AAP –77 percent –is unprecedented in Delhi's recent electoral history and has resulted in the AAP winning 9 of the 10 seats where Muslims are over 30 per cent of the population. Most of these victories are by massive margins. In Okhla for instance, AAP's Amanatullah Khan won by nearly 65,000 votes. Mustafabad is the only "Muslim seat" where the Congress finished ahead of the AAP; a division of votes saw the BJP win. Sikhs, 4 per cent of Delhi's population, also rallied behind AAP –57 per cent, 30 points higher since 2013. The AAP won all five Sikh-concentrated seats: Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Shahadra, Kalkaji.
The Narendra Modi government's decision to give additional compensation to the families of Sikhs killed in the 1984 riots could not help the BJP retain its traditional Sikh base; this survey shows 54 per cent Sikhs viewed the
announcement as merely a vote-catching ploy.